The Complex: Malibu, Episode 6: Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word

As usual, we start out with a montage of past weeks' shows. Those apartments sure were a mess! It's hard to believe the work is nearly complete, and the auction is just around the corner. Last week, the teams were dissolved, and each couple became responsible for their own apartment. Previous friendships evaporated as they all struggled to complete their projects with a fairly limited budget. Nicole broke down and Scotty battled fatigue. Although Dave and Ana won the battle, they may have lost the war, as their relationship really began to fray.

The show begins with a review of Dave and Ana's victory. They seem to have made up, and Ana actually smiles! There's no time to celebrate, though because the biggest challenge lies ahead. All the couples review their remaining funds and begin working on their kitchens. As the winners of the last challenge, Dave and Ana now must collect $1000 from each couple. Dave picks up a crow bar for added affect, and they go door to door collecting their blood money. They earned it, but that doesn't mean the other players are giving it willingly. Steve and Nicole only have $2000 left, and Steve is seething. He doesn't think that it's fair that Dave and Ana walked into the apartment that won three weeks in a row. Scotty and Sam are fairly cool about paying up, but Barney and Rose are less than enthused. They only have $459 left, and Dave suggests that they barter an ugly shelving unit for the balance. Rose comments that her dining table was out of the picture. Dave brags that he and Ana are sitting pretty and won't have to break their backs like the others. Money, money, money - it's the root of all evil, Dave.

Scotty and Sam, and Steve and Nicole hit Sears to do some power shopping. Unlike previous trips, they are not shopping together, but, so far at least, they manage to maintain cordial relations. Meanwhile, Dave and Ana are planning their kitchen. Dave wants to put a pass-through window in the wall, but, as usual, Ana doesn't think this is such a great deal. It's funny, though, I almost always agree with Ana, and she is usually correct. But, typically, Dave refuses to listen to her, which, of course, further frustrates and aggravates her. He is totally oblivious to her feelings, and I can see why she is annoyed with him. He's hiring professionals to complete the work, and plans on taking it easy for the rest of the week. Steve has a brilliant idea. Why not call Brad and Lew and ask them to build a custom corner table/bench? Now you're thinking Steve! He figures that he and Nicole have to pull out all the stops to beat the others. It makes sense to call in the guys who were on a winning streak when they were evicted. Steve calls Lew and explains his idea, offering them $1200 to do the job. In what seems like an after-thought, Steve suggests that it might be fun if Brad and Lew return to do the work on-site! Lew agrees, telling him that they really can't wait to see the faces of Barney and Rose, and Dave and Ana when they arrive!

Things aren't going quite as smoothly for Sam and Scotty. Scotty is getting really tired of doing all the work himself and tells Sam not to wait on him to do everything. Actually, Scotty seems to have the strongest work ethic and is able to stay on task, seeing each phase of the job through to completion. Sam is a better supervisor than a worker, but she doesn't do well without sleep. None of the guys seem to understand that rest is essential to doing quality work. Maybe this is a "guy thing," but I know from experience that, when I am tired, I can't focus and mess up even the smallest task. This usually leads to harsh criticism, and my reaction is almost always negative.

After all his boasting about how easy this task is going to be, Dave and Ana find themselves right back at square one when the crew that he hires to install the floor fails to return after starting the project. The crew has ripped up the old floor and left for lunch. After several hours pass, Dave instructs Ana to call and cancel. What a rock head! He figures it will take him three hours to finish and, once again, Ana shakes her head, knowing that in "Dave-Time," this is liable to be three days.

Upstairs, Steve and Nicole have hired a crew to install their kitchen cabinets, since Steve admits that he doesn't have a clue as to how to do this. But he forgets to tell the crew that there is a microwave plug behind one of the cabinets that has already been installed. So, of course, they have to take it down and look for it. The plug isn't where he thought it was so there is a lot of unnecessary punching of holes. Nicole can't take it and goes off to paint.